Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Dry Pouring is a favourite activity around here at the moment. This simple, yet effective work keeps him busy for a very long time....well a long time when you are only 2 that is!

It took me so long to find something that I could actually use to set this work up. Maybe I was just being picky I don't know but I literally spent months scouring second hand stores and came up trumps every time.

In the end I purchased these little tiny milk jugs from a kitchen supply store.

We are using larger items to pour with and always pouring on a try, as that means much less clean up and C can do the clean up himself, especially when we he can pick up the items, such as macaroni, kidney beans and sometimes popping corn (good pincer grip practice too), although that is getting slightly smaller. Eventually we'll progress to rice and sand before tackling wet pouring.

I am led to believe that I should also keep my eye out for pouring implements that have different sized spouts. Which I will do but since I had such a hard time finding these little gems I won't be holding my breath.

The tray is presented very simply, with the jugs ready for him to pour with his right hand into the left jug. I have shown him to swap them around after he has finished pouring to ensure he is always pouring from his right. Obviously the aim with this is build the coordination so that the child can pour effortlessly, wet or dry, independently. An important skill for practical every day life.

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comments:

I know what you mean by having trouble finding containers. I finally settled on two glass pitchers that don't quite match just so I could get this activity started with the girls. Amelia (my 2 year old) actually uses it more than Tabitha (my 3 year old). In fact she is getting really good at actually getting the split peas into the container instead of on the tray. Probably will be sharing pictures with this week's post.

Just had a thought. If I am remembering correctly from my time at the Montessori, the tray should be set up to go from left to right (preparation for reading left to right, just like the spooning and other work).